Encounter
by abetternameneeded
Summary: Alice encounters Gothel after being freed. Set in my "gothel raises Alice" alternate universe.


Alice sat in a makeshift fort hidden in the corner of the living room. There were plenty of blankets and pillows and she was compeltly out of everyone's sight. She'd join them when they ate but she still was scared often. Not that they'd given her any reason to be. They were nice to her. They were gentle. They never yelled at her the way mother used to. They gave her gentle reminders of what was expected of her. Or really what wasn't. They seemed to not expect her to follow any rules. Or at least none of the rules she had been taught to believe in. They just wanted her to not ask every time she wanted to move from her little corner. But she felt safe here. She had never felt this safe as a child. Her mother would yell or find other ways to punish her if she so much as spoke or moved or sometimes even when she was just breathing. She wasn't allowed to _live_ back in the tower. And here she was.

It had taken her months to get used to the level of freedom Robin and her family granted her. But, she had, for the most part.

Alice knew the people here were far more kind than her mother. She stood up and took a few shaky steps. She was afraid that she'd get in trouble for this.

"Good morning," Robin greeted, as she entered the room. And from that Alice sat down quickly, frightened by the fact she'd broken the biggest rule she'd ever known.

Robin walked over to her and sat down next to her. "You're allowed to walk." Robin knew Alice needed that reminder. She had started to not always wait for permission. Had stopped being scared if anyone saw that she was in a different spot than she'd started. But if she was caught in the act of moving if no one had said it was okay? Her fear of the cosequences would stun her into stillness.

Alice nodded. Right. No one here was going to be angry at her if she just walked into the kitchen. And so she did.

Henry walked into the kitchen. "Good morning," he greeted and sat down next to Alice after getting breakfast for everyone. "I'm going into to town today. Want to come?"

Alice ignored the question that she didn't think was meant for her. Mother had never allowed her to leave the tower. Robin said she'd like to go.

"Alice, do you want to come with us?"

Alice looked at him for a moment. She was never allowed to go anywhere as a child. "You can. It'll be fun. Come with us?"

Alice shook her head. This was beyond against a few rules. "Please," Henry begged and refused to take no for an answer and eventually Alice caved.

They got to town at some point and took a rest because Alice could not keep up with the amount of movement that Henry and Robin could. They entered the town and Alice's eyes darted around. There were so many people. And she'd be in their way. She wanted to go back to the little corner in Robin's house now. But she tried to stay close to Henry and Robin, she at least had some idea of what to do around them.

And as Henry was standing and talking to someone he knew from one of his adventures, Alice's eyes spotted a head filled with dark braids. Alice blinked. her mother. Her mother was going to be so angry. Angrier than she had ever been before.

She sat down. Maybe she wouldn't see her. Or if she saw her she would be appeased by the fact Alice was sitting down. She did not have that kind of luck.

Gothel glared across the market at the blonde teenager. She had some kind of nerve. She was breaking nearly every rule Gothel had ever given her. She was outside. And had been walking around the entire market. This market was far away from the tower the girl was supposed to be trapped in. And Gothel had not told her she could move. She had been missing for months. And Gothel was angry. She didn't need her any more but the girl could not be allowed to belive she was this free. Sure, it didn't actually afect Gothel but she missed having total power over the girl. Her fear gave her a will to live far greater than he quest for revenge on Rapunzel. Gothel stormed over to the girl and towered over her.

Robin and Henry's backs were turned as Alice looked up at her mother.

"Sorry," Alice choked out. She was in so much trouble. Alice knew this. Gothel reached down and forced the girl to stand on her feet. Alice shook in terror. Henry turned around and saw the braided haired woman glaring at Alice with a tight grip on her arm.

"Whoever you are, leave her alone."

"I am her mother, and she is not supposed to be out of the...house." Gothel knew saying the word tower wouldn't win her any favor.

"Sorry," Alice choked out. She had never broken this many rules at once. And this time she had gotten caught. Mother was more angry than she'd ever seen her.

"You and I both well know that you are not," Gothel told her, releasing her grip on the girl. "Enjoy your little adventure. When you come crawling back to me, I'll deal with your insuboridance, you disgraceful child." Gothel hissed the threat quietly so only Alice heard it.

Alice nodded her head. She didn't want to go back. But the longer she was away the worse it would get. Should she just go back to the tower? Robin could still sneak in and play with her but if she went back now who knew what Gothel had had the time to think up?

Gothel walked away leaving the girl with her fear. If the girl came back Gothel was prepared to make her life even worse. And if she didn't? Well Gothel had scared her enough with her threats that she wouldn't dare fight her, guardian or no.

"Alice, are you okay?" Robin asked her. Alice nodded. It was fine. "Do you want to go home?"

Alice shook her head. She couldn't go back to the tower. She should but she wasn't ready to face mother just yet. So they walked around the market more and eventually they walked back to Robin's house. Alice shrunk into herself for the rest of the day, staying hidden in her corner occasionally letting her eyes wander around the room.

"Alice, it's okay. She can't hurt you. I didn't see her but I won't let her hurt you. Can I see your arm?" Robin offered. Gothel had been holding rather tightly and Robin was worried it had bruised.

Alice shook her head. Her arm hurt but it was much deserved pain. She couldn't think of how many rules mother had caught her breaking in just one morning.

"How about a game then?" Robin offered. Alice nodded her head. Could they play from here? She already had broken that rule enough for one day.

"here," Alice whispered. She didn't like the sound of her own voice but would get bits and pieces out when it was needed.

"Yeah we can play right here if you want."

They played a few rounds of go fish and then went about their days.

The next day Regina was in the kitchen cooking towards the end of the day and noticed she had seen Alice less than usual.

"Robin, have you seen Alice?"

"Yeah, she's in her room?" they'd taken to calling the makeshift fort Alice slept in Alice's room. It wasn't much but she felt safer asleep in the enclosed space than she did on a real bed.

Regina went over and saw Alice sitting with her back against the wall and one of the blankets thrown haphazardly over her legs which were curled into her chest.

"I haven't seen you all day," Regina told her. "Are you going to come out of there?"

Alice shook her head. "Cani?" she whispered the words as usual melded together so she could stop speaking as soon as she started.

"Yes?" It was a setback. She had stopped actually asking not too long ago before. "You don't have to ask."

Alice crawled out of her hiding space and went into the kitchen. When Regina went to hand her food she flinched away. When Zelena saw the swelling bruise on Alice's arm she questioned it.

"Alice, what happened to your arm?"

"Mother," Alice told her then immeidatly apologized for speaking to her.

"What?" Zelena asked her, her voice coming off angrier than it should have. Alice flinched away from the harsh sound. She just wanted to go sit in her corner and sleep. It had already been a long couple of days.

"Oh, yeah aunt z, we ran into Alice's mother yesterday when we went to town. Meant to tell you that."

Alice spent the next few days keeping herself out of sight unless someone sought her out. The progress she had made over the months living with Robin and her family had unravelled. After a few days of staying hidden she got back into her routine, shakily. Whenever anyone noticed she moved they told her it was good. The encouragement helped and eventually both the bruise and the fear from the encounter faded as Alice continued to heal from the way Gothel had treated her.


End file.
